The point is, there's far more toons now than when the game launched, it's time to relieve a bit of the low level gear wall. It's counter productive and causes ppl to quit the game entirely.
With the garbage tank rewards and gear 10/11 requirements there is, effectively, 2 gear walls now. 3 if you count the shortage of a few blue and green gear. And soon enough we'll be gearing toons to 12.
There should be a grind to gear, I actually like and enjoy grinding gear, but the way it's set up now makes ppl feel like they're making zero headway. Or worse, falling behind. It's time to vent some of the gear pressure the way they did with credits.